The PlayStation 4 Review Roundup

Sony’s PlayStation 4 video game console and controllers on display at the Tokyo Game Show 2013 in September.

Bloomberg News

The consensus from the first wave of reviews for the PlayStation 4: Sony’s new videogame system is slick, with a smaller and slimmer design than many of its predecessors and competitors, but the slate of exclusive titles for its launch period is disappointing.

Many of the reviewers said, frankly, they didn’t have enough time with the fully functional version of the device yet, so their thoughts were in progress. We’re capturing what the first reviews have to say and will add to it over time:

On the Design

We appreciate the internal power supply — it sounds like a small thing, but it’s one less object to sit on the shelf next to or behind the PlayStation 4. – Polygon

The PS4 shapes up as a box in need of no space-saving or cosmetic improvement. It doesn’t use a power brick and even uses the same power cable as the PS3. — Stephen Totilo, Kotaku

The integration of nearly invisible components continues with the USB ports and the disc drive, which are both hidden inside the recessed groove running horizontally down the front of the system. The lack of the standard disc-shaped gash or protruding disc door, not to mention the USB holes, makes for a very sleek front. The box looks almost like a featureless monolith. — Ars Technica

The Controller

We can say this unequivocally: The DualShock 4 is the best controller Sony has ever made. While Sony has seemingly done nothing to expose or surface it, the DualShock 4 also introduces refined gyroscopic and accelerometer-based motion control. It’s an incredible improvement from the Sixaxis and the DualShock 3. — Polygon

The new touchpad works well for certain functions, like selecting weapon modes inKillzone: Shadow Fall. But it proved a poor mouse substitute in Assassin’s Creed 4′s map screen, with slow, latency-prone movement. We’ll need more opportunities to use it in more titles before we can determine whether this is a hardware or software problem. — Polygon

This controller will break no barriers the way the Wii’s Remote did or the commercials for Microsoft’s Kinect say it will. It should nevertheless please dedicated console gamers. — Kotaku

The little refinements, however, are where the controller shines: slightly lower-profile and springier triangle/X/O/square buttons, a squishy d-pad that feels made for fighting games, slightly curved triggers that cradle your fingers and an oddly designer feel to the grips … The DualShock 4 feels natural from the moment you first pick it up. — Engadget

The User Interface

The legacy of the Playstation 3′s operating system remains in the PS4′s often confusing hierarchy of menus, sub-menus and hidden options. — Polygon

Maybe you don’t have to be always online with this unit, but it’s designed to make you want to be. See, Sony’s turning PlayStation gaming into an incredibly social experience. — Kotaku

From the moment a disc first hits the system to the moment it starts to load, the whole install process lasts anywhere from 10 seconds to just under a minute, depending on the game. Once the game launched, there were occasionally a few more minutes of additional installation before multiplayer modes were ready to go, but for players launching a single-player game for the first time, the process was barely noteworthy. — Ars Technica

New Steaming Technology via the Vita handheld (sold separately)

Dreams of universal access to PS4 content from anywhere via the Vita will have to wait, as even locally, Remote Play suffers from issues similar to those encountered by Wii U users. Players who move too far away from their routers may lose their connection to the PS4 or otherwise render their game unplayable. — Polygon

Attempted to control my PS4 using a Vita via the systems’ Remote Play feature but managed little more than a slideshow on my never-ideal Brooklyn, NY Internet connection. — Kotaku

The Camera

The PlayStation Camera is a higher-definition device, and is likely more advanced, but there is a distinctive “first attempt” feel to the camera that seems at odds with the PlayStation 4′s efforts at broader platform streamlining and refinement. But worse for Sony, its capabilities and functionality look downright primitive in comparison to the Xbox One’s Kinect. — Polygon

Not included with the PS4, the aforementioned PlayStation Camera is a $60 accessory that allows you to control your PS4 with your voice. It’ll also recognize your face and log you in should you set it up that way. Its functionality is quite similar to the Xbox One’s Kinect, though it doesn’t feature any IR blasting support. In fact, there’s no IR port on the PS4 hardware, either, so you’re stuck using the DualShock 4 controller when watching movies or streaming video. (Sony says a special Bluetooth remote is in the works, but didn’t supply an ETA.) — CNET

The Games

The emphasis on powerful hardware dedicated to gaming software is already yielding tangible advantages over the competition, with games like Battlefield 4 running in higher resolution on the PlayStation 4 than the Xbox One. However, at launch, the PS4 has failed to muster a software library that sells that hardware — Polygon.

There’s no missing the dazzling shadow and lighting effects, the intensity of detail and contrasting colors — games look significantly better on the PlayStation 4 than even last-gen latecomers like BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us. — Ben Gilbert, Engadget

At launch, the PS4 has failed to muster a software library that sells that hardware… Sony’s major AAA launch exclusives are impossible to recommend. –Polygon

“Killzone,” from Sony’s Amsterdam-based Guerrilla Games studio, shows off the new technology most impressively. Purely from a game-play perspective, it’s a fairly generic first-person shooter, with humans battling the dictatorial alien Helghast for control of a divided planet. But wow, is it beautiful, from its vast, breathtaking landscapes to the finely tooled details of individual firearms. — Associated Press

Conclusions

But the PlayStation 4′s focus on gaming — and only gaming — is undermined by a distinct lack of compelling software. That failing is sure to improve — better games and more of them will appear on the PlayStation 4 — but right now, this is a game console without a game to recommend it. Early adopters of the PS4 this fall are buying potential energy. We’re just waiting for a place to spend it. — Polygon

How good is the PlayStation 4? Ask me in five years. — Kotaku.

The PlayStation 4′s beautiful graphics, blazing interface, and near-perfect controller make it a worthy successor to the PS3, but it would be wise to wait for more titles and features before you buy. — CNET

The PlayStation 4, by contrast, exudes refinement, a system that feels multipurpose-built and confidently purposeful. There’s no one standout feature to talk about this time, no genre-bending gizmo or water-cooler-worthy service to trumpet, and you won’t find an interface-reimagining Wii Remote in the box or a design-upending Super Mario 64 ushering in a new platforming epoch, but then that’s not what this next generation is about. … Instead, you’re looking at a meticulously alloyed platform that’s the sum of many pieces, a kind of Grand Theft Auto V of video game consoles. — Matt Peckhanm, Time

Microsoft diehards will grouse about the PlayStation hype until Nov. 22, when the new Xbox One comes out. There’s no reason for envy: Most of the best PlayStation 4 games will be available on Microsoft’s new console as well. — AP